TRUTHY TOOLS

DNS Record Types

A quick reference for common DNS record types and what they do.
13 record types
Type Category Purpose
A Address Points a domain/subdomain to an IPv4 address.
AAAA Address Points a domain/subdomain to an IPv6 address.
CNAME Alias Aliases one domain/subdomain to another hostname.
MX Email Routes email for a domain to mail servers.
TXT Text / Verification Stores text values, commonly used for verification, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, etc.
NS Delegation Specifies the authoritative nameservers for a domain or subdomain.
SOA Zone Metadata Stores zone-level metadata, including primary nameserver, admin email, serial, and refresh settings.
SRV Service Discovery Defines service locations, ports, and priorities for specific services.
CAA Security Controls which certificate authorities are allowed to issue SSL/TLS certificates for the domain.
PTR Reverse DNS Reverse DNS lookup, maps an IP address back to a hostname.
DNSKEY DNSSEC Stores public keys used for DNSSEC validation.
DS DNSSEC Delegation signer record used to connect DNSSEC trust between parent and child zones.
TLSA Security / DANE Associates a TLS certificate or public key with a domain/service, used with DANE.

About this tool

DNS Record Types helps site owners, DevOps engineers, support teams, and domain administrators review common DNS record types such as A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SOA, SRV, CAA, and PTR. Use it for domain launches, email authentication, migration runbooks, CDN setup, and DNS troubleshooting notes.

Use cases

  • Look up whether an A, AAAA, or CNAME record is appropriate before pointing a domain, subdomain, or CDN hostname at new infrastructure.
  • Review MX, TXT, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC-related notes before helping a customer fix mail delivery or sender authentication.
  • Copy record-type descriptions into a migration checklist so DNS owners know which values affect hosting, verification, routing, and security.
  • Compare NS, SOA, CAA, SRV, and PTR records while auditing delegation, certificate authority policy, service discovery, or reverse DNS requirements.

FAQ

What is DNS Record Types best used for?

DNS Record Types is best used as a searchable reference for record names, purposes, and common setup contexts during domain, email, hosting, and migration work.

What input and output should I expect?

Search or browse by record type or description. The output is a reference entry you can copy into tickets, runbooks, or docs.

Does this perform live DNS lookups?

No. It is a record-type reference, not a resolver. Use a DNS lookup tool or authoritative nameserver query to inspect actual records and propagation.

What edge cases should I verify with DNS?

Provider-specific UI labels, TTL, apex CNAME restrictions, flattened records, DNSSEC, split-horizon DNS, and propagation delays can affect real behavior beyond the record type name.